The Man in the Iron Mask (Library Binding)

Alexandre Dumas continues the tales of his Musketeers in The Man in the Iron Mask. Years have passed since d'Artagnan joined the Musketeers. D'Artagnan is now the captain of the Musketeers, Aramis a bishop, Porthos a baron, and Athos a count. Though the friends have advanced their stations, they are still fully involved in the political intrigue of King Louis XIV's court. The thrilling story of deception, treason, and honor, is retold in the Calico Illustrated Classics adaptation of Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask.

Gr 5-8-Fields has taken the original story and made it more approachable to younger and reluctant readers, losing none of the Dickensian drama. The characters are true to the original tale as are the plot and its development. McWilliam's whimsical cartoon artwork illustrates the key moments in the story and heightens its emotions and situations. Kelly does an adequate job of adapting the Dumas classic. The original is a rich, extravagant story about political intrigue, deception, history, and drama. All of the main players are here, but readers need to be familiar with The Three Musketeers in order to understand who the characters are and how they have grown. The language, sentence structure, and limited vocabulary make this appropriate for the middle grades and will introduce children to this literary classic. Unfortunately, while Lacey's illustrations provide a break for the eye at certain points in the narrative, they fail to capture the pageantry and drama of the period. In Phantom, Mullarkey uses simple vocabulary and sentence structure without losing Leroux's drama, horror, and suspense. The principal characters' roles, capacities, and importance are in no way diminished, but some parts of the story that have the most action and drama (e.g., the chandelier falling or the masquerade ball) aren't illustrated. Fisher's cartoonish art belies the dark, serious side of the story and oversimplifies some of its key points.-Robert A. Zupperoli, Warren Harding High School, Bridgeport, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.